A compelling screening of four short films that delve into the manipulation of archaeological heritage and erasure of folkloric traditions by the occupying zionist entity, revealing the cultural destruction of colonial control. This event features a post-screening conversation with Nadia Dina Yahlom.
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She Still Wears Kohl and Smells Like Roses (Dima Srouji)
The story of a collection of glass vessels excavated in Palestine and Syria, now part of the collection at the V&A.
Genre: Short, Experimental | Year of Release: 2023 | Original Language: Arabic | Subtitles: English
Performing Archeology (Dima Srouji)
The Israeli government encourages illegal settlers carrying weapons to enter Sebastia for mass religious tourism, using archaeological monuments as a stage set to perform the singular narratives of Ancient Samaria. But what if the ground could speak for itself?
Genre: Short, Experimental | Year of Release: 2019 | Original Languages: Arabic, English | Subtitles: English
Sebastia سبسطية (Dima Srouji)
A small town sits on top of a hill surrounded by an illegal Israeli settlement and confiscated olive groves. This ancient site was excavated multiple times over the last century by colonial archaeologists using locals as cheap labour - digging their own land for the sake of biblical archaeology.
Genre: Short, Experimental, Historical | Year of Release: 2020 | Original Language: Arabic | Subtitles: English
our songs were ready for all wars to come أعددنا الأغاني للحروب القادمة (Noor Abed)
Choreographed scenes based on documented folktales from Palestine, the film aims to create a new aesthetic form to re-awaken latent stories based around water wells and their connection to communal rituals around notions of disappearance, mourning, and death.
Genre: Short, Experimental | Year of Release: 2021 | Original Language: Arabic | Subtitles: English
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Nadia Dima Yahlom is a Palestinian-Jewish and British artist, curator and researcher working with speculative fiction, film, photography, drawing and objects. She co-founded Sarha Collective, a platform for experimental art forms from Palestine and the broader SWANA region. Her practice explores ways of sensing beyond seeing, the bio/necropolitical between Palestine and the UK and how humans, artefacts and landscapes bear witness to colonial violence. She has worked with Battersea Arts Centre, British Council (Yemen), Rich Mix, ICA, Open City Docs, Tate Britain, Southbank Centre and many others.
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Falastin Film Festival (FFF) is a volunteer-run, not-for-profit collective of Palestinians and allies dedicated to bringing Palestinian art to Edinburgh and Highland audiences. Palestinians are often summed up as an ‘occupied people,’ and spoken for, though they have their own stories to tell. Using cinema as a tool of resistance the festival strives to decolonize the narrative and equip audiences with historical context. There is a desire to build community while celebrating Palestinian art and culture through cinema, music, cuisine, and other storytelling mediums. Scotland’s exposure to Palestinian society, art, culture, and humanity altogether remains rather limited. FFF hopes to fill this gap, using both classical and contemporary cinema primarily but not exclusively. They strive to highlight Palestinian steadfast resistance, cultural preservation, stories of love, and in the words of poet Rafeef Ziadah, teachings of life. In so doing, they offer a refreshing portrayal that encompasses the geographic, linguistic, and experiential diversity of the Palestinian people globally.
Visit their website falastinfilmfest.com or follow them on social media @falastinfilmfest.
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Want to be the first to hear about what's happening in Edinburgh? Just hit 'Like' on our Facebook page, join the What's On Scotland Facebook Group and 'Follow' on our Twitter account and you're all set!Join us for a new quarterly series of full-moon celebrations, with live storytelling, music and a rotating programme of incredible performers.
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READ MOREJoin us at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on Wednesday 11th June for our quarterly series of full-moon celebrations. Our June session welcomes you under the full Strawberry Moon.
READ MOREFrom Ground Zero is a collection of 22 short films made in Gaza during the ongoing genocide and showing as part of the Falastin Film Festival at the Scottish Storytelling Centre.
READ MOREAn oblique, albeit powerful experimental documentary which examines the politics and economics of South Lebanon against the backdrop of the Israeli occupation.
READ MORETwo beautiful and powerful medium-length films on the coloniality of archives, reclamation of Palestinian music and dance, and the ethnographic underpinnings of colonization.
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READ MOREMarvel Studios' Infinity Saga Concert Experience is a new Marvel Studios film concert that will take fans on an epic cinematic journey covering twenty-three films in one momentous concert experience!
READ MOREPrep your picnic blankets and get ready to enjoy a FREE outdoor cinema experience from 13th - 15th June 2025, in the heart of Edinburgh City Centre.
READ MOREEdinburgh's own Mr Heebie Man promises you terrible tales quite like no other. Come take his tour round this dark wee Edinburgh, followed by a showing of local short movies at the Banshee Labyrinth!
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